


Roses

by WiIIiam



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm sorry if it's awful I swear I'm trying to improve, Other, This is my first upload, Thorns of Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 11:31:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10535592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WiIIiam/pseuds/WiIIiam
Summary: William had been putting off seeking treatment. His work was far more important than any illness, but Sebastian Michaelis had insisted otherwise. Hints towards Sebastian x William, though it will become the main focus in later chapters.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is far from being finished, I'm just posting to see if anyone would be interested if I did continue it. Please keep that in mind.

The collection of “Get Well Soon” cards on the windowsill had been gradually growing in size over the past month. Vases filled with assortments of flowers had slowly died and been replaced, though William had no clue why something that would simply deteriorate and die would be replaced. The roses’ thorns had pricked staff every time the flowers were moved, though not one had complained. They simply carried on with their jobs.

It was sad - William had reacted the same way at first.

The thorns which he had pricked himself on, however, were not that of a rose. The roses were a constant reminder of the thorns that were constricting his heart, standing in motionless silence on the windowsill, lying in wait akin to a predator and its prey.

When all the other flowers seemed to wither and die, the roses flourished; beautifully sadistic shades of red breaking the otherwise monochrome colour scheme of the lonely hospital ward.

It wasn’t as if he didn’t have visitors. A few select reapers would visit him whenever their busy schedules would allow them, usually carrying a card, flowers, or some type of cheap chocolate which William was not a fan of, but he was not in a position to complain. Their kindness had been unexpected, especially considering the supervisor’s previous treatment of his co-workers, but they would still visit when possible.

The same went for a certain demon inhabiting the Phantomhive estate. His contractor was entirely oblivious to the visits, as were many of the staff members working at the hospital, but the demon had always managed to bypass security to visit him.

On several occasions, the demon had smuggled one of his precious felines in with him. William wasn’t a great lover of cats – their incessant purring would usually drive him up the wall – but he had been won over by this particular kitten’s charm. Her purring had been the perfect distraction from the pain, drowning out the soft beep of the monitors that the reaper was hooked up to.

Tonight was the third time that Sebastian had visited with the kitten tucked underneath his jacket, sheltering the tiny animal from the rain outside and hiding her from any staff members who may happen to give him a passing glance. As soon as the demon had set foot in the colourless room, the kitten had poked her head out of his coat, much to the reaper’s unexpressed delight. Sebastian approached the bed and pulled one of the wooden chairs from the corner of the room up to it, seating himself before taking the kitten out and, very gently, placed her on William’s lap with a soft smile. William had almost managed to smile in return, though regained his composure in the same moment. Though gravely ill, he still had to keep up his appearances.

“I do apologise for being late.” Sebastian began, a sigh falling from his lips as his hands made quick work of his rain-soaked coat, “I'm afraid that my master finds it difficult to sleep when there is even the slightest bit of precipitation.”

William nodded as if he’d paid attention to his words, though mostly distracted by the animal currently residing in his lap. She had already made herself quite comfortable, curled up within the folds of the pale blanket which covered the majority of his body.

“It's quite alright. I honestly didn't expect you to show up anyway.” The reaper glanced up from the animal he’d been enamoured with, only for his eyes to meet the confused gaze of the demon seated beside him.

“What do you mean? I am a man of my word, and I have kept it thus far, have I not?” He gave a slight tilt of his head, a small section of the dark hair framing his face falling into place just between his eyes. At another time, William would have been far more agitated by this – he’d picked up the habit of brushing these strands of hair out of the demon’s face for a short while – but he was too exhausted and pained to care at this current time. Instead, he ignored the slight distraction and let his head fall back against his pillow.

“You are under order by your master; this is not a bond which you have made yourself.”

Sebastian let out another sigh, though this time there was the slightest hint of irritation. He raised a gloved hand to his face, lightly pressing two fingers to his forehead.

“My goodness... Have you even listened to a word I just said? Why on Earth would I wait for the young lord to fall asleep before leaving if he had ordered me to do so?”

William averted his eyes, his gaze instead falling upon one of the monitors at his bedside. The constant monotone beeping which it made had suddenly become almost insufferably loud. _Had it always been this obnoxious..?_

The coloured lines displayed on the screen itself had become unbearably bright as well, forcing him to shut his eyes and turn his head away. Even with his eyes closed, the vivid lines were still etched into his vision.

“...William?”

The reaper’s eyes opened once again, his head turning back to meet Sebastian’s gaze once more. The demon seemed...worried? Could demons feel such emotions? He would have to consider it at another time.

“Please lower your voice.” William murmured, his eyes closing once again as he raised his hand to his forehead, “I’m exhausted. I’ve barely been able to sleep since you forced me to stay here.”

“Goodness, you’re still going on about that? What else was I supposed to do - disobey my master’s orders and leave you in an alleyway to rot?” Sebastian paused for a second, his eyes drawn to the kitten as she began to yawn. His expression softened immediately, instead replaced with a look of fondness for the creature. “...Besides, it is the staff members keeping you here, I am forcing you to do nothing.”

William answered by simply narrowing his eyes at Sebastian, then turned his head away and closed them. The demon sighed, leaning back in his chair.

“...However, I am visiting you on my own accord, but only as it would be deemed rude of me not to.”

Once again, he received no response and a slightly awkward silence settled within the room. The words which William was looking for had refused to come to mind, and so he chose to remain quiet. Several minutes passed before he spoke up again, at which point the kitten in his lap had fallen asleep, purring softly from within the bundle of blanket which she has nested herself in.

“...Of course... You must keep up your image as a butler for the Phantomhive estate, so it was not necessary to order you to do something which you would do anyway.” William sighed, pausing for a second. “I never will understand you, demon.”

Sebastian cocked one eyebrow at him, though the reaper kept his eyes closed. Given the chance, he took the moment to inspect William’s face, a rather uncertain feeling beginning to rise in his chest as he studied him. Though it was common for the supervisor to seem worn out whenever their paths would cross, Sebastian had never witnessed him appear so exhausted. The dark circles beneath his eyes were more defined than usual, his already pale complexion was washed out and ashen. It was very clear that William’s illness had been taking its toll on him.

Sebastian very much doubted that the stubborn man would have taken any time off of work had he woken up alone in the rain, but Sebastian had found the reaper whilst returning from a shopping trip with his master. The child had ordered him to help the reaper, likely planning to have him assist with the cases which they were currently investigating, though perhaps Sebastian had been a witness to one of the rare acts of kindness displayed by the Earl Phantomhive. However, that seemed very unlikely.

Once Sebastian’s attention was finally drawn from his thoughts, the man on the bed beside him had fallen asleep. He was surprised at how quickly he’d done so, but it was obvious that the reaper had desperately needed it.

Rising from his chair, Sebastian took a moment to look around the room, finding nothing of interest. Flowers, chocolates, cards; worthless items that would no doubt end up being thrown out. _Such a waste._

His eyes scanned over the sleeping reaper once more before he leaned down to pick up the kitten, gently tucking her beneath his coat once more. William was clearly still in pain even in his sleep, and he would be lying if he said that he didn’t feel a little sympathetic towards him. However, he spent no time dwelling on the thought, and left the reaper to rest in peace.


End file.
